The game of golf is an activity that requires a level of skill in order to compete competitively or enjoy recreationally. The requirements are fairly simple, strike a golf ball as few times as possible to advance the ball from a tee box to a putting green golf ball cup. While the requirements are simple, the game challenges the golfer's ability in a multitude of instances. The ability to advance the ball a long distance requires strength and flexibility. However, the ability to place the ball in the cup once the ball is on the green requires precise alignment and swing speed. Unique to the game of golf is that a stroke is charged against the player whether a ball is advanced 350 yards or 1 inch. For this reason, the “art” of putting is one of the most critical aspects of the game.
For instance, on a par 4 hole a golfer advances the ball down the fairway with hopes of placing the ball on the green using no more than two strokes. In the preferred example, the golfer will place the golf ball on the green using only two strokes wherein the golfer may obtain a birdie (one under par or in this case three strokes) if they are able to place the ball in the hole with one more stroke. If the golfer takes two stokes, also referred to as putting, wherein the golfer would have obtained a par on the hole. If the golfer can reach a green in regulation, if the golfer takes more than two strokes while putting then the golfer is not playing competitive golf. Professional golfers who are accurate in putting are typically able to use a single putt in order to birdie a hole. Average golfers may take 2 strokes once on the green and below average golfers may take more than 2 strokes which can decimate their game by ineffective putting.
The ability to strike a ball accurately and consistently takes practice, there is no substitute. While the prior art is filled with devices claiming an ability to enhance a golfer's putting ability, practicing on a real grass putting surface is the only way to develop/verify proper putting techniques. For this reason practice greens are found on most every golf course which allow golfers to practice putting on grass that is similar to the putting greens they will experience on the particular golf course. The putting green surface can very from soft or hard, flat or rolling, peculiar grass texture, height and have a growth direction that can change the speed of the ball roll depending on the direction the grass is growing.
While there is no short cut in the amount of time necessary to develop accurate putting, there is a lot of time wasted by a golfer retrieving golf balls while practicing. A practice putting green typically includes a number of golf cups placed on the surface. A ball tray attached to a stick is placed in each golf ball hole to catch practice golf balls. An individual would putt into the hole and remove the practice golf ball by lifting the ball tray so as to eliminate bending. While the use of a ball tray provides eliminates the need for bending over, the use of a ball tray still requires the golfer to approach the hole for manual removal. The stick that is attached to the tray can cause the golfer to learn bad alignment techniques but removal of the tray and stick would require the golfer to bend over to retrieve the practice balls.
A large amount of the time spent in putting practice is consumed during the retrieval of the ball from the cup. The need to approach and retrieve the practice balls is consuming and typically leads to boredom causing the golfer to end the putting practice session with minimal beneficial effect.
Attempts have been made at producing automatic golf ball retrievers, however, such devices are not capable of directional horizontal golf ball displacement if the device is placed within the golf cup. Known automatic golf ball retrievers have many disadvantages due to complexity which leads to early failures. In many instances the retrievers are ejector devices that include sensors and valves not capable of moving the golf ball more than a couple of feet from the golf cup. Such devices employ a vertical motion which operates to project the ball upward out of the cup but fail to provide adequate horizontal movement. If the ball is ejected but remains next to the hole, the golfer still must approach the cup to retrieve the golf ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,914,994 discloses a spring loaded golf ball ejector. The ejector is spring loaded wherein the golf ball is raised to the top of the cup, no direction placement of the ball is provided upon ejection.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,310,311; 3,310,312; and 3,623,732 disclose a golf ball putting device which automatically ejects golf balls. The device consists of an electromagnet powered by an annular arrangement of rechargeable batteries surrounding a golf ball ejecting armature.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,792,861 discloses a golf cup comprising a hollow body with a ball supporting and ejecting member. An upwardly facing suction cup is mounted within a lower portion of the body and is engageable by a downwardly facing surface portion of the ball ejecting member. Upon initial downward movement of the ball supporting and ejecting member after a golf ball drops in the open upper end of the body and engagement of the downwardly facing surface of the ball ejecting member with the suction cup, the suction cup is operative to retain the ball ejecting member in the lower position for a short period of time until sufficient air is vented through the vent passage between the downwardly facing surface of the ball ejecting member and the suction cup to allow the upwardly biasing action of the compression spring to overcome the retention force of the suction cup and thereby project the ball ejecting member.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,665 discloses an apparatus for automating the ejector operation of a golf cup and featuring the use of a flexing diaphragm and/or impacting cup to impart ball impacting force to a golf ball. A telescoping coil and magnet system operate to trigger a control circuit which causes them to interact and impart ball impacting force to the ball and includes means to amplify a signal generated by relative movement induced by the golf ball engaging the diaphragm and moving the diaphragm and coil downwardly. Non-radial ball ejection is effected such that a random ejection pattern results.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,290,603 discloses a ball ejecting golf cup in which a golf ball comes to rest on a vertical spring-biased plunger disposed within the cup to traverse a sealed chamber, the ball and plunger being depressible by the golfer with any suitable tool, and a device for retaining the plunger depressed for a short time, allowing the putter to be removed, and then to release the plunger to snap upwardly to eject the ball upwardly to a height convenient for the golfer to catch it. A mechanism is provided for adjusting both the time delay and also the height to which the ball is ejected.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,496,150 and 4,552,358 disclose a golf ball ejection device. A liner will move upwardly to eject a golf ball out of the hole. In one embodiment, the ball is received on a support plate which is sloped so that the ball moves downwardly from the center toward a peripheral wall of the liner. In another embodiment, the liner is provided with a guide way along which the ball travels to a lowermost point in the liner and will then enter on a support plate and move a trigger to cause the support plate to be moved up rapidly to propel the ball outwardly. When a ball is driven into the hole of the liner, it moves down the plate against the trigger mechanism to release the plate and to cause the plate to move upwardly and deposit the ball on the green.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,674,131 discloses a golf ball ejector having an outer cylinder and a movable inner cylinder. A compression spring is disposed beneath the inner cylinder and includes a pair of slots which extend axially along it and a transversely extending pin extends through the slots and is secured to the outer cylinder. The top of the inner cylinder includes a recess for receiving the golf ball. The top of the device also includes recesses for receiving the pin to lock the inner cylinder downwardly relative to the outer cylinder. A golf ball falling onto the top of the inner cylinder causes the inner cylinder to move relative to the pin, and when the pin is out of the recesses the compression spring moves the inner cylinder to eject the golf ball upwardly and out of the cup.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,967 discloses a golf ball ejecting apparatus that comprises a sleeve and a main body featuring a solenoid system and surrounded by and attached by sealants to the sleeve. The main body comprises a solenoid-driven plunger, a guide tube, a power source, housing for the power source, phototransistors, solenoid coil, tapered coil springs, a control circuit panel, a flag stick tube, a golf cup and an end plate. The end plate is positioned under the guide tube and serves as a bottom cover for the main body. The solenoid-driven plunger slides in the guide tube which is positioned under the flag stick tube and used for ejecting of a golf ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,409,609 discloses a golf ball ejector having a cylindrical side wall, a top opening and a bottom portion with a centered hole. The golf ball ejector comprising a base plate having a top surface for guiding the golf ball onto an ejector plate which is pivotally engaged with the base plate for ejecting the golf ball out of the top opening of the cup when the golf ball is in an ejection position on the ejector plate.
Thus what is lacking in the art is a golf ball ejector that is simplistic in design, can fit into the shortened height of a conventional putting green golf cup, and has the capability of moving a golf ball out of a golf cup in first a vertical direction and then a horizontal direction at a range of upwards to fifteen feet.